Log inSign up

Tutkijat sanovat, että äärisää on pahempi kuin mikään aiemmin.

Tutkijat sanovat, että äärisää on pahempi kuin mikään aiemmin.
Researchers say that the extreme weather is worse than anything earlier.
From Lesson 425:Pronouns in affirmative clauses (kukaan, mikään)·Finnish

Questions & Answers about Tutkijat sanovat, että äärisää on pahempi kuin mikään aiemmin.

Why do we use the negative pronoun mikään here if the sentence isn't negative?
This is a special rule for comparisons. While mikään usually means 'nothing' in negative sentences, in affirmative comparisons with kuin (than), it translates to 'anything'. It emphasizes that the extreme weather is worse than absolutely anything else.
Why is it mikään (nominative) and not mitään (partitive)?
In comparisons using kuin, the thing being compared to matches the case of the original subject. Since the subject äärisää is in the nominative case, mikään must also be in the nominative case.
I know huonompi means 'worse'. Why does this sentence use pahempi instead?
Both come from adjectives meaning 'bad' (huono and paha), but they are used slightly differently. huonompi usually implies poorer quality or lower skill, whereas pahempi implies something more severe, damaging, or serious. For extreme weather or a crisis, pahempi is the natural choice.
What kind of word is äärisää?
It is a compound word made of the prefix ääri- (meaning extreme, edge, or limit) and sää (weather). You will see ääri- used in many other contexts to mean extreme, such as ääritapaus (an extreme case) or äärioikeisto (the far right).

Learn Tutkijat sanovat, että äärisää on pahempi kuin mikään aiemmin and more in Finnish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Finnish →